The last of the bowls for the 4H fundraiser were finished on Thursday

April 14, 2017 - Friday

26 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

We awakened this morning to the sound of the furnace running. Seems with the clear, calm, nights come cold temperatures. Thursday's high was sixty degrees, today's is forecast to go higher. Naturally, as luck would have it, storms are to move in tonight and remain through the weekend with a mixture of rain and snow predicted to fall this coming week. 

Ah, springtime in the UP. You can't beat it.

Thursday was a mixed bag on Pentoga Road. Sargie did laundry and cleaned the house. I headed to the shop first thing and finished the cherry wood bowl and began the third made from spalted birch.

It was early afternoon before I applied the final coat of polyurethane to all three and set them outside in the sun to dry.

What a difference a month or two makes. It takes all day for the lacquer to dry during the winter, yet it's a matter of minutes in the warm sunshine.

Sargie and I wound our way to the north for our afternoon drive. Sipping Cokes, we set out for the abandoned prison just north of Iron River.



It was a financial catalyst to the area until several years ago when the state, in their infinite wisdom of money saving techniques, decided to close the facility. 



The buildings and grounds are well kept and groomed and look as though they are ready to house inmates at any time.

Back home, I put the battery back in the old Ford 8N tractor and did some basic maintenance.



I'll purchase an oil filter from Tractor Supply in the next few days and after an oil change and grease job, the old Ford should be ready to go for another season of work.

I did a first yesterday. I actually washed and waxed the hood of the tractor. After almost eight years of service to me, I decided it deserved a shine and polish. 



It was over sixty years ago that I was with my Uncle Bill who was a farmer in central Illinois. I was about Grady's age, maybe a year older.

Riding on Uncle Bill's lap and helping him drive, I told him his tractor, a Farmall M, was dirty. He replied that to wash a real, working, farm tractor, was bad luck. 

I've owned several tractors during my adult years and yesterday was a first. The old 8N got a wash and shine.

One last note about that old Ford. I did some research using the serial number several years ago and found that it rolled off the assembly line in June of 1952. The tractor and I are the same age, right down to the month. It will be sixty-five years of age in June, same as me.

I dug a few of last summer's parsnips from the garden last night. Sargie fixed those and along with fried chicken, we ate well. 

One bad thing about parsnips, they are only sweet if allowed to sit in the ground and freeze. The upside is that the process turns the starch to sugar making them very sweet. The downside is that the sugar causes them to turn soft and begin the decaying process rather quickly. When it comes to parsnips, it's feast or famine with nothing in between.

Today looks to be a repeat of yesterday. With warm, sunny, weather, we'll spend more time outdoors rather than in. I'll be playing in the shop this morning then leave the rest of the day up to Sargie. 

There's a surprise birthday party to attend tonight and Saturday brings the annual Mighty Milligan Easter Celebration. Saturday gatherings were started when the second generation Milligan cousins were in college and had to leave early to drive back to school. 

It's time to turn the heat on in the shop. I'm considering making a bowl or two to sell on Ebay, test those waters a bit. I don't know if they're worth anything, but I've had several offers from those wanting to purchase bowls. 

We'll see. 

It's more fun to simply make and give them away. There are some things money can't buy.

Time to spring into action.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Inmates at the prison may be nonexistent, but there is no shortage of deer.